Monday, August 10, 2009

I'm a nature girl probably because I'm a country girl. Playing under the trees, in the field with the cows and chickens and dogs and horse I was always finding something interesting outside. I never got over that. I collect rocks and dried flowers and bits of nature and bring it indoors to make displays in my home (remember this vignette?). But not everything is made for year-round display which is why I think a treasure box is so fun.

I started with a box my grandmother gave me - a carved wooden piece probably not worth much but it looks cool and has a cool latch. Inside I keep things I found outside that are interesting:

It's nice to have a "reserve" in case you need something natural to add to your decor. :)

I just added a new piece to my collection last week. Hopefully this doesn't scare you but I thought it was totally fascinating. My cat caught a mole (yayyyyyy!!!) and left in the yard (not so much yayyyy) the bugs did their circle of life thing and pretty soon all that was left was bones and hair - are you freaked out yet? - anyway, I loved biology in school so I noticed that all the gory bits were gone and decided to investigate. This is what I thought was so fascinating. I always knew that moles don't have eyes since they are underground and that would just be problematic for them, but neither do their skulls have eye sockets. Isn't that neat? That clinched it, I'm a nerd.

In any case a treasure box is a nice, tactile way for kids to learn and adults to enjoy the simple, natural treasures that surround us everyday. Happy treasure hunting!

i love your collection! mine includes a preserved butterfly, a tiny paper wasp nest, a stone that looks like an egg in a tiny bird's nest, a polka dotted bird's feather. i also have a weaver bird's nest from africa that my uncle climbed up on the land rover to get down for me. nature is amazing and i love bringing it into my house too. thanks for letting us peek into your treasure box!

Hi Molly,I LOVED this post. You...are...adorable! I can't get over how you see wonder in everything around you. When my boys were little, I made sure they each had a treasure box for similar reasons you mention here. We found really cool ones at the Thrift Store. : ) I think you should make a Halloween shadow box and put the skull and and maybe a "poison" label on the brown bottle. : )My favorite quote from the post below, "I introduced the picture above our bed to the burn pile." Hee-hee!